Information management tools such as barcodes and/or QR codes have been used for managing large quantities of articles. Usually, such codes are printed on the packaging instead of on the articles themselves. In other words, no information regarding the article, such as origin or product description, remains with the article after the packaging is removed.
There is a growing demand for providing barcodes and/or QR codes on the articles themselves rather than on their packaging, or on tags attached to the articles. The packaging and tags can be easily separated from the articles resulting in loss of information during handling of the articles. For example, for material recycling and traceability efforts, it is important that information regarding the article permanently follows the article and not dissociate from the article during the article's lifetime. Printing methods such as ink jet printing have been used to print barcodes directly onto components. However, ink jet printing have limitations in that the system installation is complex, the ink may bleed on the printing surface, and the printing quality is compromised on uneven surfaces. Laser printing have also been used to print barcodes on objects. However, laser printing requires the printing surface to withstand high temperatures during the printing, which is not suitable for all types of materials.
There is, therefore, a need for new information encoded codes (for example, barcodes and QR codes) and methods of attaching such codes directly onto articles.